He said Thursday on his program on The Blaze website that he met with “somebody high up with the pope” and asked during lunch whether the pope was a communist.

Beck said the official nearly snorted water through his nose but denied the accusation, although with some apparent reservations.

“He said the pope has lived in Latin America, where he has seen cronyism,” Beck quoted the official as saying. “He has seen that and he has seen Marxism. He doesn’t like Marxism, (and) he doesn’t like cronyism – which he defines as capitalism. He’s not seen ‘let-me-serve-you’ capitalism.”

The talk show host said he offered to show examples of that type of capitalism to the pope, who has issued withering criticism of American-style “trickle-down” economics, although Beck didn’t share any with his audience.

“I’ve asked the Pope’s people if I could put together a team of people that could actually teach the Pope, and find examples, left and right, and go visit the Pope and say ‘This is what capitalism is,’ and it’s not being done,” Beck said.

After the program was recorded, Beck apparently went to a Billy Joel concert and posted a complaint afterward on his Facebook page.

“Left billy Joel early. Disappointed,” Beck posted late Thursday. “Was it the fact that he was 90 minutes in before he played one of his real hits?”

Beck, who claims to have every album Joel has recorded, also complained that the singer talked more to the band than his fans – many of whom he said were falling-down drunk.

“There are too many demands on our time and things are way too expensive to stay for someone who, as good as he is, seems to be phoning it in,” Beck said.

“I hope it was just us and we were the ones having an off night,” he added.